.jpg)
David Rodan on Tuesday and in 2007
Today's headlines
Today's videos
THIS TIME last year David Rodan had only been in Adelaide three weeks.
The pint-sized midfielder was hell-bent on impressing his new club with blistering form on the track, and away from football, he was adjusting to life in a new city.
Now 12 months on, with a Grand Final and a sixth placing in the Power’s best and fairest under his belt, things are a “bit different” for the former Tiger discard.
“I think last year I was on the chopping block a bit more and things were a bit nervy and stressful,” Rodan said.
“But this time around I’m finding it more enjoyable, especially coming off the camp in Port Lincoln last week.”
The Fijian-born onballer, who was taken with the last 'live' pick in the 2006 NAB AFL draft, was arguably the recruit of the year after he played every game for the Power and thrilled fans with his speed and awareness around goal.
Now that he’s proved his doubters wrong, Rodan says the pressure is on to back up his career-best season.
“I suppose it’s important for me to have another good year in ‘08’, but it’s even more important for the team,” he said.
“If I improve and everyone else improves hopefully we can go that next step. We have a lot of quality young players and if we keep developing I think we can be a good team for a little while.”
“There’s a lot of pressure on me, but I’m looking forward to it. I’ve tried to come back fitter than last year and I’m just really looking forward to taking the challenge again.”
Rodan, who is just ten matches shy of the 100-game milestone, is also ready to take up a bigger role within the playing group.
At 24, Rodan is considered to be one of the more senior members in the young Power squad and he’s expecting more responsibility next season.
“There are a few blokes, including myself that have put their hands up and are showing real good leadership qualities,” he said.
“We’ve got good leaders and quality players in Warren Tredrea, Dean Brogan and Chad and Kane Cornes. Those guys have been there for a long time and now we’re looking for the next bunch to step up.”
“The training camp last week was all about leadership, giving new roles to the younger players and also to the guys emerging from that middle group. Hopefully myself and a few other boys can step up next year and take the next step.”
One young player who is quickly making a name for himself at Alberton is lanky Victorian Matthew Lobbe.
The 199cm draftee kept a position alongside frontrunners Kane Cornes, Matt Thomas and Tom Logan in the Power’s gruelling conditioning session on Tuesday.
“Matt’s a great runner,” Rodan said.
“He’s a big fella and blessed with running ability. I think the club can look forward to him improving his fitness level and becoming a good, hard running player, which is a quality that’s hard to find in a big guy.”
Several of the Power boys, including senior coach Mark Williams who received treatment on his calf, felt the pinch after an intense 45-minutes of running.
“I think for the most of this year the boys have trained pretty well and today again everyone ran really well, the boys were beating their times and we’re looking forward to next year,” Rodan said.
“I think the guys have gone over the Grand Final somewhat and are using it this pre-season to train harder and take the next step.
"Everyone came back from the break in good shape and to the boys’ credit everyone’s ready to go and we’re going into the Christmas break very confident with where we’re at.”
WebMail
My BigPond